Having watched the movie starring Sean Connery and a very young Christian Slater before I read the novel of the same name, I was struck by a seeming anomaly. For anyone who has read the closely printed 600-page best-seller by Umberto Eco or viewed this 1986 production so meticulously directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, we are presented with an interesting conundrum, “What is the title about and what has this to do with humor?”

Let us begin with a review of the movie, which cleverly draws on the whodunit aspect of the novel rather than focus on its more scholarly discussions on philosophy, religion, ethics, and art.

Sean Connery’s character is William of Baskerville, a Franciscan monk who is renowned for his intellect. Eco deliberately alludes to Sherlock Holmes as William goes about investigating mysterious deaths in a Benedictine abbey famous for its library, housed in a fortress-like Aedificium. His novice is Adso of Melk, played by Slater, whose role parallels that of Watson, so that William’s explanations to Adso also serve to enlighten us. The setting is 14th century Europe, where the light of learning from such monasteries served to hold back the tide of ignorance in the Dark Ages by preserving whatever knowledge and wisdom known to the civilized world through making copies of books and manuscripts. This arduous task fell on the monks, who were the educated elite of this medieval age. They lived very comfortably, warm and well-fed, as monasteries extracted taxes in kind from the peasantry.

The Devil seems to be at work as six inexplicable deaths occur in quick succession, with four bearing the same marks – a blackened tongue and a blackened right fore-finger.

A wizened and stone-blind aged monk, the Venerable Jorge of Borgus, wields a powerful influence over all in the abbey. He despises reason, preferring to cling to superstitious fear as the proper attitude for Man. The debate between William and Jorge on the role of laughter is the reason for this movie review.

Jorge contends that there is no evidence in the Bible that Christ laughed. Laughter is a devilish wind that distorts the lineaments of the face so that one looks like a monkey. William retorts that there is likewise no evidence that Christ did not laugh and that laughing is particular to Man since monkeys do not laugh!  Jorge’s sharp repartee is that sinning is also particular to Man. Undaunted, William quotes the tale of St Mauros, when he was being boiled by the pagans, used humor to ridicule them by complaining that his bath was too cold. This prompted the Sultan to put his hand into the water and scald himself. Jorge scoffs at this anecdote as “childish tricks” for a saint would restrain his cries and suffer for the truth. When William counters him with reference to Aristotle’s lost second book of Poetics, which discusses comedy as an instrument of truth, Jorge brusquely informs him that the book is not lost, but never existed because Providence does not want futile things glorified.

His spiritually distorted view is that a monk should not laugh, for it is the fool alone who laughs. Where there is laughter, there is no fear. If there is no fear of the Devil, there is no need for God. If it is permissible to laugh at God, one is permitted to laugh at anything. Besides, once there is no fear, there is no more “faith” which is Jorge’s term for superstition. The Church had utilised this “faith” for centuries to oppress the masses. People were burned at the stake for practising “witchcraft and devilish rituals,” condemned by Inquisitors who saw themselves as empowered by God to root out evil. So the first question arises: What is the Rose? The only clue is William quoting a line from a poem by Bernad de Morlais: “All that remains of a dead rose is the name”. Could it be Aristotle’s lost work? Or the learning that Man loves and idolises? The library’s learned collection is forever lost without a trace.

I am thus reminded of Ecclesiastes 12:12-13: “…of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

Elaine Lim is a regular contributor to the Eagles VantagePoint editorial team. She teaches in an independent girls’ school and remains in awe of God’s grace and goodness.

The King James Version of the Bible has been referenced.